circumlocution

noun

cir·​cum·​lo·​cu·​tion ˌsər-kəm-lō-ˈkyü-shən 

1

: the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea

had no patience with diplomatic circumlocutions

2

: evasion in speech

circumlocutions concerning what constitutes torture

circumlocutory

ˌsər-kəm-ˈlä-kyə-ˌtȯr-ē 

adjective

Did you know?

In The King's English, grammarian H. W. Fowler advised, "Prefer the single word to the circumlocution." Alas, that good advice was not followed by the framers of circumlocution. They actually used two terms in forming that word for unnecessarily verbose prose or speech. But their choices were apt; circumlocution derives from the Latin circum-, meaning "around," and locutio, meaning "speech"—so it literally means "roundabout speech." Since at least the early 16th century, English writers have used circumlocution with disdain, naming a thing to stop, or better yet, to avoid altogether. Charles Dickens even used it to satirize political runarounds in the 1857 novel Little Dorrit with the creation of the fictional Circumlocution Office, a government department that delayed the dissemination of information and just about everything else.

Synonyms

• equivocation
• shuffle
• tergiversation

Examples of circumlocution in a Sentence

He was criticized for his use of circumlocution.

I'm trying to avoid circumlocutions in my writing.

Recent Examples on the Web

Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion. —Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023

By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself. —Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020

This year, House Republicans unveiled a new Conservative Climate Caucus that, in a fascinating circumlocution, sort of recognizes that fossil fuels are causing the planet to warm. —Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2022

Powell’s statement yesterday (September 22) is the masterpiece of its type, building upon fifteen months of this playful circumlocution, downshifting into bureaucratic blandness. —George Calhoun, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021

But the national crisis in policing and the response to it isn’t a matter of arid elite debate or familiar political circumlocution and compromise anymore. —David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020

These circumlocutions are meant to emphasize the fact that Africans traded like chattel were not, in their essence, slaves but human beings. —Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019

Although incredibly popular, with 60% approval ratings, Ahok was considered by many to be a divisive figure, by virtue both of his minority status and of his bluntness, which ran counter to Javanese traditions of deference and circumlocution. —The Economist, 12 Apr. 2018

Mungiu, like many Romanian directors, has a sadistic streak for circumlocution. —Jordan Hoffman, VanityFair.com, 6 Apr. 2017

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English circumlocucyon, from Latin circumlocution-, circumlocutio, from circum- + locutio speech, from loqui to speak

First Known Use

circa 1518, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

circumlocution

noun

cir·​cum·​lo·​cu·​tion ˌsər-kəm-lō-ˈkyü-shən 

1

: the use of many words to express an idea that could be expressed in few

2

: evasion in speech

circumlocutory

-ˈläk-yə-ˌtōr-ē 

-ˌtȯr-

adjective